15 Great Photos Shot With A Canon Rebel T2i / 550D (And How They Were Taken)

Canon have surely created a winner with the Rebel T2i (known as the 550D in Europe). Building on the already fantastic performance of the 500D, the new model has received great reviews around the ‘net, and will no-doubt be in the minds of a lot of prospective DSLR owners.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d feature some great photos that have all been taken with the T2i / 550D, along with a short tutorial on how they were taken.

An apt way to kick-off this 550D / T2i collection is with a great self-portrait. A large aperture of f/5 means the photographer himself is a bit blurry, drawing our attention to the sharp camera – the true subject of the photo.

The range of colours taken in this shot are just gorgeous, and it works to keep your eye moving across the shot, from one colour to the next. As virtually everything in the shot is the same distance away from the camera, the choice of aperture (in this case, f/5.6) does not really matter, as a large or small aperture would still keep the majority of the photo in focus. Composition, and the great skill of the photographer to ‘see’ that this would make such a good photo, is more important than the technicalities of the shot in this instance.

This is a great composition, with a kind of ‘X’ shape created by the kissing couple and the streetlights. A wide aperture of f/2.5 has created a lovely blurred background, and this wide aperture, combined with a relatively high ISO of 800, meant the shot could be taken without flash and still be sharp.

Hi Thiago, thanks very much for your message. Using the http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/ translation tool, I think you said you’re happy to be contributing to the website – thanks also for your kind words, and for your fantastic photography!

wow this is slick thanks so much I just bought a new T2i and really new in Photography, this shots are amazing and even have a Exposure Guide for us who are new. Please update some more pictures and out the settings you used so we can learn thanks so much. Been looking for a site for the T2i with exposure guide like this so I can learn more.

Hi Agnes. There are some tips in our ‘How To Take Sharp Photos In Lowlight Without A Flash Tutorial‘ which should be able to help you. Regarding the zoom lens that comes in the kit, well this is actually a pretty good lens, so you should be able to get some great shots. Feel free to join our facebook page where you can ask us for any advice, post photos and provide feedback on other people shots too, if you like.

I bought a Canon 550D 18-135 mm. My real purpose of photography is to shoot birds and wild animals from a distant location, say about 500 feet. When I zoom the lens and press the magnifying button (+), the view finder shows very good zoomed image of the object. But when I press the shutter button fully, the picture snapped shows as if the object is taken from the distant place. In other words, the picture did not fit into the frame fully as shown in view finder. How can I take enlarged image of the object from a distant place (500 feet) that can fit into the whole frame?

Hi Aftab, thanks for your comment, I’ll try to help: When you press the ‘+’ button, that is just magnifying the image within the LCD screen, it’s not actually extending the reach of your lens. It’s really meant to be used to check that you have your subject in focus. What you’ll actually need to take photos of distant wildlife so they take up the entire frame is a longer, ‘telephoto’ lens – a lens of 250mm or even longer would really be needed. At the moment, your zoom lens only zooms as far as 135mm, which isn’t really long enough. I just did a small guide to focal length at http://www.learningthelight.com/2011/04/05/photography-terms-explained-focal-length/ which should explain what I mean in a bit more depth.

Hi Richard, sorry for the delay in replying to your comment. It really depends on what kind of budget you’re looking at – you say ‘mid-range’, but that could still mean quite a lot of different possibilities. Any modern DSLR will have a ‘Bulb’ setting, which means you can keep the shutter open for as long as you want to – perfect for the long exposure photography you want to get into.

I just got the canon rebel t2i, and I was wondering how I can shoot the first picture at the top of this page. A self portrait in black and white, with me blurred in the back..what setting does my camera need to be on, and does the room need to have lots of light??
thanks

Hi Natalie. Sorry for the delay in replying. Try using your camera in Aperture Priority mode – AV. Then choose a low f-number (if you have the kit lens, this will probably be f/3.5 with the zoom at its widest setting). Using a wide aperture like this means your subject will be sharp, whilst the background will be out of focus. Focus on the camera in the mirror, and you should then be blurred in the background. The wide aperture will also mean you can take shots in lower light, but you may have to raise the iso to 1600 or 3200 if the room is really dim. Hope that helps!

i just wanted to know how i can take real nice pictures with my D550,in different situations like cloudy weather,sun shining,night but light,,,and normal weather….I’ll appreciate if there is an answer for this questions,,,

Hello!
I just wanted to say thank you so much for this brilliant feature. I am on the verge of investing in this camera and I think you may have just pushed me over the edge – credit card at the ready. I wonder if you know whether or not all of these shots were taken with the kit lens?
Thanks again,
Hannah

Hi I am a beginner to photography and I really like that “Rita La Bam” picture, I was wondering if that picture was taken with flash and if it wasn’t then how could you achieve that lighting focusing on their faces like that while the background is all dark and defocused?
Thanks!